Reel support



Jan. 9, 1951 v. EASTMAN 2,537,519

REEL SUPPORT Filed Oct. 16, 1947 Nailggn VQEasZmqn ATTO NEY Patented Jan. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES RATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The invention relates to a novel reel for clothes lines and the like and it aims to provide a new and improved device in which the reel is rotatably mounted upon a novel reel-supporting member including a loop through which the user inserts one forearm, an arm projecting rigidly forward with respect to said loop, and a second loop on the front end of said arm to be gripped by the hand of said forearm. Thus, the supporting member may be easily and stably held to properly support the reel for rotation in one direction or the other, and should it be necessary to use both hands at one time or another, the hand-gripped loop may be momentarily released without danger of the entire device dropping.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction which will be exceptionally simple and inexpensive, may be expeditiously manufactured, and may be profitably marketed at a reasonable price.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side elevation showing the invention supported in readiness for use.

Fig. 2 is an edge view.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view as indicated by line 33 of Fig. 1. r

A preferred construction has been illustrated in the drawing and will be rather specifically described, but it is to be understood that within the scope of the invention as claimed, minor variations may be made.

A supporting member 5 is provided, formed from a single metal rod. One end portion of this rod is straight and constitutes a reel-mounting shaft 6. At one end of this shaft, the rod is bent to form a relatively large loop I to encircle the users forearm, said loop being disposed in substantially the same plane as the shaft 6 and projecting in opposite directions with respect to saidshaft. After forming the loop I, the rod A reel H is rotatably mounted upon the shaft 6 and preferably consists of two side bars l2 connected by rods [3 and I4, one of said rods being extended to provide a handle l5 by means of which the reel may be conveniently rotated. The entire reel is preferably formed from wood,

and the rod 13 may, therefore, be secured in is extended laterally from the shaft 6 at the inner side of said loop and at substantially a right angle to the plane of this loop, to form an arm 8 to extend longitudinally of the users forearm. At the outer end of the arm 8, the rod is further bent to provide a relatively small loop 9 to be gripped by the hand of the above-mentioned forearm, said loop 9 having a straight outer side bar It to permit more effective gripping. The loop I is of substantially elliptical form. Both loops l and 9 have approximately the same positional relationship with the arm 8, although the plane of said loop 9 may be somewhat oblique to the arm, as shown.

openings in the bar [2, by brads or the like It. The shaft 6 simply extends through openings I! in the bars I2 and has its free end upset at [3, after application of a suitable washer Hi.

In supporting the device for use, the user simply inserts one hand through the loop 1 and grasps the loop 9. He is thus enabled to stably support the entire device with one hand and forearm while the other hand is being used to rotate the reel II in either winding or unwinding direction. The loop I, encircling the forearm, will hold the entire device against falling, should it be desired to use both hands at any time, during winding or unwinding a line, and the user may, therefore, temporarily release the loop 9 if desired.

Excellent results may be obtained from the construction shown and described and it is, therefore, preferably followed, but attention is again invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

l. A reel support including a shaft adapted to rotatably support a reel, a lateral arm extending forwardly from one end of said shaft and of a length adapting it to extend longitudinally of the users forearm and overlap the users hand, a loop at the inner end of said arm and disposed in a plane at substantially a right angle thereto, said loop projecting away from said arm in a direction away from the shaft axis longitudinally thereof and having portions projecting from opposite side of said shaft, and a second loop at the outer end of said arm projecting in substantially the same directions therefrom as the first loop, said shaft, arm and loops being secured in fixed relation with each other, said first loop being of dimensions adapting it to encircle the users forearm, and said second loop being of dimensions to be gripped by the'hand of said forearm.

2. A reel support including a shaft adapted to rotatably support a reel, a lateral arm extending forwardly from one end of said shaft and of a length adapting it to extend longitudinally of the users forearm, a loop at the ear end of said arm disposed in a plane adapting it to fit about the users forearms, said loop extending laterally from said arm in a direction away from the shaft longitudinally thereof and having portions projecting from opposite sides of both the shaft and the arm, and a second loop at the outer end of said arm projecting in substantially the same directions therefrom as the first loop, said shaft, arm and loops being all formed from a single rod and therefore integrally united in fixed relation with each other, the first loop being of a size to encircle the users forearm and said second loop being of a size to be gripped by the hand of said forearm.

3. A reel support including a rod having a straight end portion constituting a shaft adapted to rotatably support a reel, said rod being bent at one end of said shaft to form a loop of dimensions adapting it to encircle the users forearm, said loop being disposed in substantially the same plane as said shaft and projecting from opposite sides of said shaft, said rod after forming said. loop being extended laterally from said shaft at the juncture of the shaft with the inner side of the loop and at substantially a right angle to the plane of said loop to provide an arm adapted to extend longitudinally of the users forearm, said rod being further bent at the outer end of said arm to provide a sec-- ond loop of dimensions adapting it to be gripped by the hand of said forearm, both of said loops having approximately the same positional relationship with said arm.

NATHAN V. EASTMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 58,378 Chamberlain Oct. 2, 1866 64%,640 Huebner Dec. 25, 1900 1,292,361 Obermiller Jan. 21, 1919 1,321,050 Kahn Nov. 4, 1919 1,439,726 Brown Dec. 26, 1922 1,505,623 Burton Aug. 19, 1924 2,470,658 Simpson May 17, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 151,096 Great Britain Sept. 20, 1920' 

